Wednesday, May 30, 2012

A
beautiful looking publication apparently offered as up as a vehicle for
contractors wishing to sell in the Indian market. Several topical essays are included
in each issue and is profusely illustrated. This journal provides a rare
English language insight into the psyche of the Indian Armed Forces.

Why the USS Scorpion (SSN 589) Was Lost:
The Death of a Submarine in the North Atlantic

By Bruce Rule

9781608881208
2011 Self-Published

This book
is not a traditional historical text, but instead a compilation of materials
related to the tragic loss of USS Scorpion in 1968.

The book
contains a number of tables, correspondence and graphs that largely debunks,
via information in the public domain, that Scorpion had been sunk by the Soviet
Navy. Mr Rule has come to the same conclusion as many historians – Scorpion was
sunk by one of her own MK37 torpedoes that somehow managed to start itself
while in the tube. Although not mentioned in this work, the torpedo is widely
believed to have been fitted with a nuclear warhead, a regular occurrence in
Cold War ASW operations. Luckily it appears the warhead never exploded.

Such a
detailed work, a labor of love by the author, will likely only be of interest
to serious students of submarine operations and naval history. We certainly
commend Mr Rule for his efforts to bring the Scorpion story to life again; a
difficult undertaking as most official records are still classified.

One
Marine’s War A Combat Interpreter’s Quest of Humanity in the Pacific

By
Gerald A Meehl 9781612510927 Naval Institute Press 2012

Growing
up in Shanghai in the 1930s, Mr Sheeks had an opportunity to develop a
familiarity with Asiatic languages. Studying at Harvard at the time of the Pearl
Harbor attack, Sheeks was quickly recruited by the US Navy for language
translation duty in the Pacific for the US Marine Corps. Extensive training in
the Japanese language followed in California and Colorado before leading to
active duty in the invasions of Tarawa, Saipan and Tinian.

The
book certainly educates the reader on the heretofore little known work of the
translators during combat operations and behind the front lines. A worthy addition to the historical record of
the war against Japan in the Pacific and is recommended.

Adrian
Raeside, following in the footsteps of the great Len Norris of the Vancouver
Sun, is renowned for his topical editorial cartoons.

BC
Ferries, long the bane of BC travelers, has provided enough material over the
years for the full Raeside comic treatment in this compendium of 150 works
issued by Harbour Publishing.

The
book reveals one of the cartoonist’s proudest accomplishments, helping to get
rid of the breakfast fare served onboard by the transportation behemoth.

This
book makes the perfect gift or purchase for those familiar with ferries in
British Columbia and makes a great read in a ferry lineup or at home.
Congratulations to Harbour for bringing the cartoons of Mr Raeside to a wider
audience.

Images
of War Tirpitz The First Voyage Rare Photographs from Wartime Archives

By
Jonathan Sutherland and Diane Canwell

9781848846685
2011 Pen and Sword Barnsley, South Yorkshire

The
photos in this book are taken from an unpublished album belonged to a member of
the crew of famous German Battleship Tirpitz. It is a little known fact that
before the start of World War Two the ship went on a shakedown voyage into the
Atlantic, travelling north into Arctic waters and south into the more tropical
climbs of the Caribbean. There are superb photos of the officers and crew both
above and below decks, including some unique shots of the crew during their
stint on a magnificent sail training vessel. Other stunning shots show the
vessels mighty weapons during gunnery practice during her sea trials. This
unique collection gives a close up view of one of the most powerful ships of
World War Two, a ship that proved to be a persistent thorn in the side of the
Royal Navy until sunk in Norway towards the end of the war.

This
book is a fascinating look at the German Navy built around a collection of
photographs from a Luftwaffe flight officer stationed on Tirpitz. The details
of youth work, naval training, wartime service and postwar incarceration are
displayed with detailed captions. One small error was noted on page 71, the
photo shows a light cruiser built in the 1930s and not the training ship
Schleswig-Holstein as indicated.

The
fate of original photo album owner after his incarceration in France has not
been discovered to date.

We are
certainly happy his photographic work has survived for present day and future
historians to study.

The
story of the last world war, as told by Grand Admiral Karl Doenitz himself. His
memoir covers his early career with submarines in the First World War and
follows both his successes and failures through the Second World War, with
great detail on the way the U-boat campaign was waged, as told by the man who
invented U-boat tactics.

Doenitz
includes details of the U-boat campaigns during the Second World War as well as
the opinions, ideas and commentary on the period. Of particular interest are
the comments regarding British and American conduct during the war. An
important social document, and an invaluable source for any student of the last
war.

He
became the last Führer of Germany after Hitler's suicide in May 1945 and the
book’s subtitle, Ten Years and Twenty Days, is a direct reference to the time
Karl Doenitz spent in Spandau Prison having been convicted of war crimes
following trial at Nuremberg.

Grand
Admiral Karl Doenitz, a First World War U-boat officer, stayed in the peacetime
navy and was the flag officer in charge of submarines upon the commencement of
hostilities in 1939. In 1943 he became navy commander and eventually succeeded
Hitler after the latter’s suicide in 1945.

This
book, first published in 1959, chronicles U-boat and naval operations as well
as the political and organizational machinations at home. To do this to such an
extent, only a senior officer could have compiled such a comprehensive record.

This
book should be compulsory reading at naval and staff colleges and on the shelf
of any student of naval history.

Monday, May 7, 2012

70th
Anniversary Special highlighting color schemes and markings carried by the
Imperial Japanese Navy’s pre-emptive strike force aircraft and the defending
USAAC and USN / Marine aircraft based at Pearl Harbor and then the Battle of
Midway.

Representative
aircraft from all six IJN carrier Divisions with explanation of the IJN’s
coding systems and aircraft markings. Compiled by Neil Robinson | Illustrated
by Peter Scott. Comprehensive selection of the aircraft that took part – from
both sides

Follow-on
coverage of all the other areas and aircraft involved in the first six months
of the Pacific War up to the turning point at the Battle of Midway in June
1942. For the modeler, history or aviation enthusiast, this book is a must for
their collection.